Closure element for top opening refrigerators



Jan. 3, 1939. c. o. WILLIAMSON ET AL 2,142,469

CLOSURE ELEMENT FOR TOP OPENING REFRIGERATCHS Filed March 26, 1956INVENTORS. CLIFFMD a Mun/A0150, "Emnun /i MONEY- ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES CLOSURE ELEMENT FOR TOP OPENINGREFRIGERATORS Clifiord 0. Williamson and I toiand 11. Money,

Cincinnati, Ohio, assignors to The Crosley Corporation, Cincinnati,

Ohio

Ohio, a corporation of Application March 2a, 1936, Serial No. 10,972

3 Claims.

Our invention relates to closure devices for refrigerators of the typein which access to the refrigerator is had through the top. Refrigeratorunits of this type are quite generally used for 6 beer coolers and thelike. and they generally embody two closure members whereby access maybe had to either half of the cabinet.

For the most part these closures have been of the hinged type, althoughthere have been attempts to make them of the sliding type. The latterhave, however. been objectionable for various reasons. Where one closuremember was caused to slide up over the other one or possibly down underthe other one. the two closure members have come in contact with eachother, with the result that there was a scraping action which resultedin marring the finish. It has also been attempted to try theconstruction in which one closure member would slide over the otherclosure member with the assistance of one or more centrally disposedrails. Such constructions have uniformaliy been objectionable for thereason that the construction lacked in rigidity and there was a tendencyfor the closure members to jam.

As between hingedly opening closures and sliding closures, the latterare preferable for the reason that less effort is required to operatethem and there is no danger of one of the closure members falling fromits open position and pinching an attendant's fingers.

With the above factors in mind, it is our object to provide aconstruction of refrigerator top closures of the sliding type which isfree from the objections pointed out above in connection with the priorart. It is an object of our invention to provide a closure constructionwhich is extremely rigid and yet effortless in operation so as to avoiddanger of jamming. It is another object of our invention to provide sucha construction whereby the two closure members will never come incontact with each other in any position, so that their exposed surfacesmay be finished as desired and will not become marred in use. Generallyspeaking it is our ob- Ject to provide a construction having the aboveoutlined advantages which will be durable, effective and inexpensive ofconstruction. These and other objects of our invention which will be setforth hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art uponreading these speciflcations, we accomplish by that certain constructionand arrangement of parts of which we shall now describe an exemplaryembodiment.

Reference is now made to the drawing which forms a part hereof, andinwhichz- Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of one form of ourinvention.

. Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the same along the line 2-2 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the same along the line 33 of Fig.1.

Fig. 4 is a detailed cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig.2.

Fig. 5 is a detailed cross sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of Fig.2.

Referring to Figs. l to 5, inclusive, which show one embodiment of ourinvention, we provide a refrigerating cabinet I, which may be of anydesired well-known form. This cabinet will not be described in detailexcept insofar as it is necessary in order to understand the operationof the closure members 2 and 3. The cabinetaccording to the usualconstruction will be formed of sheet metal with a filling of someinsulating material.

or the like, the channel members indicated generally at 4 and 5. Thechannel member 4 comv prises a lower straight leg 441, an upper straightleg 41) and a connecting sloping portion 4c. The other channel 5comprises a lower straight portion 5a, an upper straight portion 517 anda con necting sloping portion 60. It will be noted by reference to Fig.3 that the lower portion 4a. of the channel member 4 and the lowerportion 5a of the-channel member 5 are disposed at the same horizontallevel while the upper portions 4b and 5b are also disposed on the samehorizontal level somewhat above the portions 4a and 5a. It is also to benoted that the connecting portion 4c is much shorter and steeper thanthe connecting portion 50. It is to be understood that both longitudinalwalls of the cabinet are thus provided.

1 We will now proceed to a description of the two closure members 2 and3. Both of these members, generally speaking, comprise fiat insulatingslabs covered with sheet metal. We may provide in them indented portions6 for finger holes when it is desired to open or close these members.The closure member 3 is provided on both sides near both ends'with pinsor rollers 1. The members I may be attached to. the member 3 byriveting, welding, or any other desired means. Referring again to Fig. 3it will be noted that in use the two left hand pins 1 will ride in thechannel member 4, while the two right hand members i will ride in thechannel 5. In assembling the member 3 into position the right hand pins1 may readily be caused to enter the channel 5 turning the cover memberslightly sidewise and lowering it into the cabinet until the pins 1 areopposite the channel 5, when the member 3 may again be turned to itstransverse position. The left hand pins 1 are then caused to enter thechannel 4 through slots 4d.

The closure member 2 is similar to the closure member 3 except that itis-not provided with pins 1; instead it is formed along its sides with aAlong the longitudinal walls of the cabinet near the top we attach bywelding, riveting down-turned fiange 8, as best seen in Fig. 4. Thisflange is adapted to ride on the upper leg of the channel member 4. Theflange portion 8 runs around three sides of the closure 2. The fourthside which lies adjacent the cover member 3 is pinched together, asindicated at 8.

The operation of this device is as follows: When it is desired to obtainaccess to the part of the cabinet closed by the member 3, the member 3is moved toward the left as seen in Figs. 1 to- 3 inclusive. At thefirst movement to the left, the left hand pins 1 will pass downwardlythrough the channel portion 40 and then proceed toward the left alongthe portion 4a, the right hand pins I will move along the fiat portion5b and will then gradually follow the portion 50 downwardly until theyreach the portion 5a, whereupon the member 3 will remain in the sameplane as it moves further to the left. It will thus be seen that as aresult of our construction a movement to the left of the member 3results in a rapid tip of the left hand edge and then a more graduallowering of the right hand edge, whereby the member 3 will passunderneath the member 2 without coming in contact therewith. Also, byvirtue of the fact that the sloping portions 4c and 5c are of adifferent degree of angularity, the downward movement of the member 3 toits lowered position will be more silent than if both portions 40 and 50were of the same slope.

If access is desired to the left hand portion of the cabinet, theclosure member 2 is moved to the right with the result that the flangeportions 8 ride rapidly upward on the upper leg of the channel portion40 until the greater portion of the member 2 has passed the left handend of the closure 3, whereupon the weight of the right hand portion ofthe cover 2 will cause that member to again assume a horizontal positionof the upper leg of the channel portion 4b. It will thus be seen thatthe left hand closure 2 may be moved out of the way above the right handclosure 3 without coming in contact therewith and marring its surface.If desired, of course, the cover mem ber 2 may simply be lifted offinasmuch as it is not in any way confined to the cabinet.

It will thus be seen by this construction either closure member may beopened to a position parallel to, and adjacent the other without at anytime contacting the other closure and marring its surface.

It is of course to be understood that different forms of our preferredform may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention, andthat we do not intend to limit ourselves otherwise than aspointed out inthe claims which follow.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:---

1. In a top-opening refrigerator cabinet having two cover membersadapted to be disposed side by side to fully close said cabinet, a pairof guide rails having two major horizontal portions connected mediallyby a relatively steep inclined portion, a second pair of guide railscomprising a major horizontal portion and a minor horizontal portionconnected by an inclined portion less steep than said first mentionedinclined portion, the major horizontal portion of said second mentionedpair of guide rails being aligned with the lower horizontal portion ofsaid first pair of guide rails and a minor horizontal portion of saidsecond pair of guide rails being aligned with the upper horizontalportion of said first pair of guide rails, followers on one of saidcover members, one pair of said followers being disposed in said firstpair of guide rails and another pair of followers disposed in saidsecond pair of guide rails, the other of said cover members beingprovided with downwardly turned flanged portions positioned to ride onthe upper surface of said first mentioned pair of guide rails wherebysaid first mentioned cover member may be moved to a position parallel toand below said second mentioned cover member or whereby said secondmentioned cover member may be moved to a position parallel to but abovesaid first mentioned cover member,- said two cover members being whollyout of contact with each other during said movements.

2. In a top-opening refrigerator cabinet having two cover members,adapted to be disposed side by side to fully, close said cabinet, a pairof guide rails extending slightly less than the entire length of saidcabinet and comprising two horizontal portions connected medially by arelatively steep inclined portion, a second pair of guide railscomprising a major horizontal portion and a minor horizontal portionconnected by an inclined portion which is less steep than said firstmentioned inclined portion, the major horizontal portion of said'secondpair of guide rails being disposed in alignment with the lowerhorizontal portion of said first pair of guide rails and the minorhorizontal portion of said second pair of guide rails being disposed inalignment with the upper horizontal portion of said first pair of guiderails, two pairs of follower members on one of said cover members, saidfollower members being disposed with one pair traveling in said firstpair of guide rails and the other pair traveling in said second pair ofguide rails and spaced apart the distance between the upper ends of saidinclined portions, downwardly turned flanged portions on the other ofsaid cover members positioned to ride on the upper surface of said firstpair of guide members, said second cover member having a lip to overliethe edge of said first mentioned cover member when in closed position,said first cover member being thus movable to a position parallel to andbelow said second mentioned cover member, and said second mentionedcover member being thus movable to a position parallel to and above saidfirst mentioned cover member, said cover members being wholly out ofcontact with each other during said movements.

3. In a top-opening refrigerator cabinet having two cover membersadapted to close said cabinet entirely when seated side by side, a guiderail.

structure comprising a pair of guide rails extending slightly less thanthe full length of said cabinet and comprising two horizontal portionsconnected medially by a relatively steep inclined portion and a secondpair of guide rails comprising a major and a minor horizontal portionconnected bp an inclined portion which is less steep than said firstmentioned inclined portion, the major horizontal portion of said second'pair of guide railsbeing disposed in alignment with the lower horizontalportion of said first pair of guide rails and the minor horizontalportion of said second pair of guide rails being disposed in alignmentwith the upper horizontal portion of said first mentioned pair of guiderails.

ROLAND H. MONEY. CLIFFORD O. WILLIAMSON.

